We Learned To Be Okay
by JenJenTheSmartJellyBean
Summary: Second generation, Katniss' daughter, Lavianna, Gales son, Caleb, and Finnicks son, Oriole. Heart-breaking tragety hits and Lavianna and Oriole learn to cope, to grow, and to come together. Kind of a love triangle, but not. Youll see:) Warning: Im breaking my own heart writing this. Rated T, cuz it's the The Hunger Games:) I update fast and finish my stories;)
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! Okay so I've been reading and writing Fanfics for a couple years now, but I've never posted. So like, this is my first (!) official fanfic. I'm super excited and a big sucker for details and FLUFF. Rated T 'cuz it's, you know, the Hunger Games, and because I'm a paranoid writer. So read, enjoy, and REVIEW! **

**Read on, my lovelies! **

**Oh, and I do not (unfortunately, curse you my beloved Suzanne Collins) own THG **

**~Jenna:)**

We Learned to be Okay

ONE

The light tapping on the window wakes me. I blindly look around, adjusting to the pale darkness that falls over my room. On the other side of the wall, outside the frosted glass, is the face of my best friend, Caleb. His breath fogs up the clouded glass as his finger raps the windowsill. I get up and pad over to the moonlight, the cold wood underneath my feet causing me to shiver.

Lifting up the window, I shake from the unforgiving breeze, sliding down my chest and biting my body. I look at him, perched quite ungracefully on a branch.

"Hey," smiles Caleb, his eyes glinting in the moonlight. "I was hoping you'd be up."

I roll my eyes. "Which I clearly wasn't until you woke me up," I retort, rubbing my eyes.

His laugh breaks through the freezing air. "Yeah, sorry about that," he scratches the back of his head. "I was wondering if you'd take a walk with me."

I glance at the glowing numbers on my bedside table and just look at him.

"Caleb, it's three in the morning."

He merely shrugs this off.

"I have to get up tomorrow, Or's coming tomorrow on the train, remember?" But I know perfectly well that he knows. Which was why I suspected Oriole to be the root of the cause. Caleb never got up before the burning sun was high in the sky.

"Well, the moon is full, and the airs got a nice, refreshing feel to it. So I went for a stroll, and figured it would be better with you along for the ride," his signature boyish grin plays across his perfectly shaped face.

I hate how easily I caved to that damn smile.

In response, I tiptoe over to my dresser, grab my fleece and pulled it over my undershirt, zip up my mothers worn leather jacket over it, and pull on cargo pants over my shorts.

Caleb leans on the windowsill with his elbows, and quietly whistles his familiar tune. A six note series of eerily beautiful sounds.

I look at him as I pull on my boots, motioning for him to climb down so I could follow suit.

Jumping down from the old oak tree, my feet crunch on the slightly frozen grass, not yet covered in snow.

I follow Caleb around the house and across the field to the forest. He carries a red lantern, the candlelight swaying in his left hand. I walk two steps behind him, trying to keep up with his long strides. He looked behind him once, smiling at me as he slowed down, matching my habit-forced hunters stalk. Before we reach the edge of the forest, he stops abruptly, and looks up. I follow his gaze, and lean back in awe of the sight.

The sky is a dark pool of glistening stars, slightly tinged blue with the promising early morning. The moon, still high and huge, shines like a bright flashlight in the dark. It glows, really. Its a breathtaking and eerie sight.

Shaking me out of my gaze, Caleb grabs my hand, and leads me through the frozen chain link fence, bending under the opening. He leads me through the wall of trees, never letting go of my hand. I look around the tall, dark shadows, the light of the moon peeking through the dark puzzle of branches. I wonder if he's even a bit scared. I know I sort of am. The light chirping of grasshoppers and chiming breeze whistling through the treetops form a song. Twigs snap under our feet, almost rhythmically, unlike when we're hunting, in which case our skilled footwork wouldn't make a sound to scare off game.

I suddenly wonder where he's taking me. He hasn't said a word; but when I think about it, he doesn't really have to. It's not an uncomfortable silence. It's one we've gotten used to over the years of hunting and going on adventures. I actually sometimes prefer it to talking.

We finally reach the lake, passing the old house my father used to call our hideout. And I thought the sky was beautiful.

My breathing hitches. The lake is as still as the sky, reflecting its glimmering dotted coating. Only it enhances the view, enlarging the white pinpricks into wavy stokes of light reflecting off the surface. Instead of the soft muted darkness of the atmosphere, the lakes water is deep and blackish blue, giving its viewer the impression that it is darker and deeper than any ocean could dream to be. It gives off a soft sound; I don't know how to describe it. It's not like running water or ripples, more like the flat surface of the water is singing with the slight breeze that momentarily disturbs it's stillness into setting entirely different, a wave of stars and indescribable colours.

Caleb's long fingers entwine with my cold ones. I don't even bother to glance down. I don't really feel it's a romantic gesture, more of a reaction the the beauty in front of us, a silent comment.

I slowly tilt my head, and suddenly see his big grey eyes in my peripheral vision. I turn my head to find his shining eyes gazing into mine, a serious expression on my face, and I frown in uncertainty. He never looks this serious, even after killing am animal as he approaches it's body with unbelievable gentleness.

He steps sideways and sets the lantern on the ground beside us, and returns to face me, his hand still holding onto mine, now like a lifeline, grasping my hand so tightly the blood begins to flow again.

The orange haze from the flickering candle below illuminates the sharpest angles of his face, dramatizing his looks. Under the bridge of his nose, the cave of his cheekbones, his jawline, his deep eyes under his brow.

His dark eyelashes flutter over his glassy eyes and his lips slightly curve, ever so tiny, into a sad smile.

There has never been anything romantic between Caleb and I. Ever. Sure, when I first became aware of boys looks, he was the first to hit my young mind, but it never really went anywhere. Caleb Hawthorne was an object of longing for most of the girls at school, but I was used to their jealous and confused glares at me when I walked the halls with my best friend, as he was two years ahead of me. Fifteen and seventeen.

He was practically my brother. We told each other everything, and I mean everything. There were no secrets between us, whether it be insecurities or personal. We were also inseparable, he spent so much time at my house it was practically his. Cale was my best friend, and I loved him. More than anything, besides my family. If I were to lose him, at any cause, it's be like losing myself. So I never understood the mixed signals I had been receiving the last few months. I had told myself that it was just a phase.

But now... I'm not so sure that friendship was the only thing coursing between us.

I stare back into his eyes. I cant decipher what lies beneath them.

"Lavianna."

He whispers-no, breathes my name so quietly that if you weren't paying attention, it could have been part of the breeze.

My eyebrows knit together in confusion. I probably look like a lost puppy with my big green eyes. He lifts his hand and ever so lightly, his finger presses between my brow, softening my expression.

His finger slides across my brow, down the side of my face and brushes my lips, then cups my chin. I shiver. His other hand slides up my frozen arm and holds the inside of my jacked, snaking along my back and pulled me a bit closer so that our noses nearly touch.

His warm breath tickles my nose and I look up at him without daring to move my head. The hand behind my back leaves and rustles up to caress the back of my neck. A chill runs through me and I close my eyes.

I'm so numb with unease and confusion, I'm frozen.

When I open my eyes, his are staring at mine, with so much intensity. What is the look in his eyes? Love? Hunger?

Both his hands are now holding my neck. He closes his eyes and lifts his head to brush his warm lips on my cold forehead. He never opens them as he brings them right in front of mine, breathing my air, I focus on the oxygen in my lungs, to let it out, in, out. I let out an unsteady breath and part my lips. He hesitates and closes the distance between our mouths.

When his lips lightly touches mine, I can't help but think about how surprisingly soft they are. He lingers there, and it tastes sweet and cold, like a winter mornings fresh air. He pulls back for a second, but I don't see his face, my eyes seem to be glued shut.

Then I feel his lips again. Slightly harder than the last butterfly kiss, and he moves his head to tilt to the other side. I inhale deeply through my nose and try to make sense of it all as he continues to kiss me. I bring my hands up to his chest and halfheartedly try to push him away, but he only pulls me closer.

I don't know what to do all I can think about is his lips and...he's kissing me. It's feels so impossibly amazing...but he's...his hand moves to entwine in my dark hair, and I can't think..not to think. Try to make...but.

Then I do the most impossible thing in the world. My lips move slightly. I kiss him back. Caleb Hawthorne. My best friend. Kiss. I can't. But.

I lose myself after what seems to be ages, but probably only a few minutes.

Suddenly he breaks and centimetres from my lips, his warm breath whispers.

"I'm in love with you, Lav."

I'm frozen.


	2. Chapter 2

**So I will now be updating frequently, due to my utter lack of an exciting summer:) so if I'm confusing you with all the "Caleb and Lav" cuteness, I apologize, you will later understand, my sweets. **

**Now, without further a due, Chapter Two:) **

**(I already have like five more hehe) **

**~Jenna3 **

TWO

When I was nine, my father took me to the river in district three while visiting family friends. It was a beautifully warm day, and the water was amazing. He took me knew deep and faced upstream as he held me in his arms throwing me up and catching me.

At one point, as I kept yelling "Higher, daddy! Higher!" he threw me slightly forward and there was a moment of terror that he reached out but wasn't going to catch me, and I reached out but couldnt grasp anything. My breath left my lungs so fast I thought I would never breathe again. Even after picking my back up, unharmed, I never forgot the feeling of air being ripped raw from my chest.

This feeling slams into me and I lose all ability to breathe.

My eyes fly open in shock.

Caleb looks at me, unfazed by my shocked expression, his eyelids half closed in the same haze over him.

I back away from his face, slowly stumbling over my own feet, but his hands are quick to grab hold of my arms. I step back, and stare at him.

What's going on? Is this some sort of joke? I shake my head slowly.

He starts to speak, but I shake my head hastily before he can. I open my mouth to say something, but nothing happens.

He continues anyway.

"Lavianna," his voice sounds strange saying my name now...foreign. Almost exasperated. "I've known you almost my whole life. And you were like my sister. I love you like that more than anything. And I've always payed attention to the other girls at school, but none of them, none, compared to you.

"You were so...you." He chuckles. "I couldn't read you for the longest time. You were moody, a pain in the ass, and so intellectually advanced it scared me. You were a piece of work. You cared about the littlest things, and so gentle, yet so skilled this shooting an arrow through a living animal.

"And you're beautiful. So stunning, with you're shining green eyes that make me want to smile, you're brown hair that never seems to be out of place, and your quirky little smile always playing there," he points to my face, smiling so wide I thought his face might hurt. Other than that, I wasn't thinking anything really. Just listening.

He sighs, and looks up. "I don't know what happened, one day, you were swimming and I was cleaning a fox, I think, and when you got out of the water in that oversized tshirt, I don't know. I just looked at you as you laughed for some reason. And the way the sun shone off your skin, and your voice chimed through the silent forest."

He takes a deep breath and turns in a slow circle, looking around. I just stand there.

"And I guess, I realized, I loved you. More than a sister, or friend. I felt this weird...pang," he claws at his chest for a second and drops his hand. "in here, and I knew. I knew I had fallen, hopelessly, desperately, and foolishly in love with you." He finishes.

Cale was never one to talk about emotion. Especially love. He was like me. Only, not tonight. This is someone entirely different.

He seems to see the utter cluelessness running through my head.

"I just knew." He whispers.

I turn to look at the lake, and slide to the cold ground, even though it freezes the back of my legs, and sit cross-legged. I just stare out. For what seems to be hours.

"You weren't supposed to say that."

My voice sounds strangely detached. He's my best friend. He can't feel that way. A weird, burning, sensational and somewhat painful stirring erupts in my stomach.

He sits beside me. "Okay," is all he says.

I reach over and hold his hand. He grips it.

Staring at our hands, I say, "I love you, Cale."

He looks at me, but dimly. "Only," he takes a sharp breath, "not in the way I want you to."

I look away. I get up silently, and lead him with me like a child, picking up the lantern, and crunch through the forest. I lead him all the way to my house, the sky is starting to erupt into bright flames as the sun spills over the horizon.

I let go of his hand when I reach the tree, turn and look at his hollow, sad eyes. I reach up and kiss his cheek, the roughness scratching my lips. I pull away and smile at him, softly. In response, he picks up my small hand and brushes his lips over my knuckles.

And despite the turning events that morning, I look at him.

"I love you," I say, as if fighting a point matter-of-factly.

He smiles at me, his old self returning briefly. "And I, you."

I turn quickly, but slow enough to hear him say, "in both ways" as he chuckles and saunters off around the corner.

I smile to myself.

**EEEK! Don't you just love their utter cuteness? I know, I'm being mean to poor little Caleb-Poo by shutting him down, but if you think THIS *gestures widely to my small chapter* is intense? Just you wait:) I have alottaaa more drama-rama up my sleeve! **

**Until next time! REVIEW! 3**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello again! So I know it's a lot of fluff till now. And yeah, its still gonna be. But just you wait! I have a lot of tragedy upcoming *tear, and evil grin* ;) So I shall be updating as fast as my lovely shall allow me. Oh and I am in utter apology to not giving credit to Ilovefinnick for the lovely name of Oriole, from her amazing story, Mockingjays at sea. So thank you:) okay! REVIEW PLEASE! **

**~Jenna**

THREE

Getting up that morning is so hard, I'd rather just sleep forever. But eventually, mother literally drags me out of bed at nine thirty, and forces me to dress.

"Oriole's coming in two hours, Lav. Hurry up and get dressed." She walks out of my room.

Oriole and I have known each other even longer than Ive known Caleb. As a newborn, my parents would visit his mother, Annie. She had lost her husband, Finnick Odair, in the War and never seemed to recover. Her son was almost three years older than me, and we visited each other often. Once a month,lengths of time varying from one week to three.

Every time I visited him in Four, we spent almost every waking hour at the beach. God, I love the ocean. He taught me to swim at the age of seven, and you couldn't get me out ever since. But I was nothing compared to him. He was a natural born swimmer-no, fish. It was insane, how he started flipping and diving and soaring through the water so skilled at such a young age. I always admired him.

Unlike my friendship with Caleb, there was some tension between Or and I. For one, he was the most gorgeous boy you had ever laid eyes on, ever more so than Cale. He had golden brown, sandy hair that always brushed into his eyes, which were all colours of the sea. Shinning blue, bright green, hints of brown and these remarkable flecks of gold. His smile was addictive and his jaw perfectly chiseled. He wasn't as muscular as Cale, but he was taller, now around 6"6, Caleb was around 6"4. Or was lean and had strong, wiry muscles. God knew what he did to girls when he was shirtless.

Besides his looks, Oriole still had almost everything going for him. Unlike the somewhat hostile, recluse attitude of Caleb, Oriole was open and gentle. He was kind, in a way not a lot of people could understand. He was intelligent, especially in writing. He was charming as well as goofy and funny. He couldn't paint to save his life, unlike my father and I, but he was a decent singer.

I always wondered about how the two relationships compared to each other, but I could never understand it. I basically live with Cale, but when I get a chance to be with Oriole, I jump on it faster than any decision. I don't know how I feel towards him. I guess he's my other best friend. I would do anything for him, like I would for Caleb or my family, but there was something different about it. I had a thing for him when I was twelve. Puberty kicking in of course, but even after the breathlessness and angst had subsided, some parts of it stayed, teasing me at the back of my mind almost.

But Or and I were the best of friends. I could tell him everything. Anything, unlike anyone else. And he understood me. That was a rare thing.

The sound of my younger brother, Caspian, banging on the door breaks me from my mind jumble. Being the thirteen year old he is, he can't be anything but hyper, even though he's inherited every ounce of patience and gentleness from my father.

"Yeah, yeah I'm coming!" I yell.

I brush out my long, wavy hair and pull on jeans and a fitted black turtleneck, zipping up the hunting jacket and bounding down the stairs in brown combats.

When we arrive at the train station at eleven, there are only a handful of people besides us. The train pulls up and we stand in the first flurry of winter as it shrieks to a stop. I hold onto Caspians arm as he jumps off the train, boots scruffing the pavement as he turns to help a smaller looking, frail woman step down.

He's changed. His hair has become somewhat lighter, it's natural gold highlights shining against the white snow, his tan skin lighter, almost the colour of a normal person. He seems taller, which I don't know how is possible, considering he's the tallest boy I know. But his eyes. His eyes haven't changed, I'd anything they've gotten even more breathtaking.

"Lavie," his voice is so smooth it hurts somehow. His grin erupts into a smile and he strides towards me, and I throw my arms around his neck (which is hard because it's oh-so-high) and he lifts me off the ground, laughing.

"Orio!" I laugh.

And for this one moment, despite all confusion in my brain, I am, in this moment, simply happy.

•••

I now notice now how bad Annie, his mother, is. She's shrunk in size, only being my mothers age, and her beautiful flowing hair has become thinner. Her beautiful green eyes haven't lost its life though, and aside from the startling change in health, she's still beautiful.

But I know about it. Mother and father think I don't. But I heard, that night a long time ago where I shouldn't have been and shouldn't have heard.

Annie had something called cancer. It was never a problem before the War, but now, that there are other things to worry about, many sicknesses have broken out. Cancer isn't contagious, but it's still not curable. We could bring her to the Capitol, but all that would do now is buy her time in a life she probably suffers in anyways. I heard that the disease grew in her chest, behind her lungs, becoming her, slowly making her slip away.

It was getting bad.

I quickly snap my head from staring at her and wonder what chaos lies beneath that sweet-faced surface.

I look up at Or, still smiling his old smile. Laughing at my fathers joke. He looks down at me and I realize how small I am compared to him. He grins and takes my hand.

I missed him.

**_ORIOLEOHMYORIOLE3_**** Kay so ma peeps, I am totally in utter Fangirl love with my two hotties. it's not weird. I've decided. :) hope you're enjoying my little gift to the universe of fanfiction! Love you all, strangers:) **


	4. Chapter 4

**Fancy meeting you here! :) **

**So this is more fluff. I'm sorry of you think my chapters are kinda short...I've only been trying to fill my time. So please review and tell me exactly what you think..and in a nice way, please:) I'm kinda sensitive. **

**Now, more Oriole and Lavianna! **

**Oh, and just in case you had a suspicion that I wrote and own THG, I'm afraid you're mistaken. Suzanne Collins stole it from me:( so don't sue me, you lawyer-smart-sewing people. Thanks:P**

FOUR

"So, Annie," my mothers voice chimes, "how are you feeling?"

Annie just sits on the couch and grins while mumbling something inaudible. She suddenly looks up, to some empty corner of the room as if someone startled her, but then just looks down. She sips her coffee.

But mother doesn't seem fazed. She only smiles and goes to sit beside her, taking her hand. "You know, I've been thinking of going out to Four, to stay with you for a while if that's okay."

This is news to me, and apparently, I'm not the only one by the look on dads face.

Annie snaps out of her little world and looks at my mom. She smiles lightly. "I miss you." She says in a beautifully soft voice.

Mother nods and says it's settled, she'll leave with them back to Four and stay a month or two.

Oriole seems grateful for her offer, and under his beautiful smile, I can't tell from years of experience that he's sad. I reach over and lay a hand on his knee. He smiles at me, better.

After lunch, the adults sit in the living room and invite their friend Johanna to join them, who now lives in one of the Victors Houses. Caspian runs to town to hangout with his friends, obviously being too cool for us.

So Oriole and I end up just walking in the cold winters air.

He breaks the silence. "So, how's it been, Lav?"

Assuming he means life, she shrugs. "It's been fine. Nothing really exciting going on." I sneak a peek at his face. He's looking at me. "How are you?"

He fake smiles as best as he can (not very convincing) and shrugs.  
"It's been better."

I look at him seriously, but I know he isn't going to mention his mom, so I back away from the subject.

Our feet crunch, falling into the newly laid out snow, fresh and fluffy, packing snow. I grin at my feet and point ahead of us.

"Hey, what's that?" Oriole's eyes leave my face and I swiftly stoop down and pack a hard snow ball, and as he turns, I chuck it at his face.

The white snowflakes explode onto his neck, blinding him momentarily. I laugh so hard, I kneel over. It was just so ridiculous; his expression.

I look up. Big mistake. A bigger snowball flies towards me, and I dive, landing in the snow but not fast enough. The cold stuff drips down my back.

I look at him in mock anger and disbelief. "Oh, you're gonna get it." He takes off towards the forest and I follow after him, the wind biting my skin and howling past my ears, as I bend and throw handfuls of snow as I run.

We skitter through the trees, laughing like kids and chasing each other. I fall a few times, and of course, he comes to help me up, only to find a trap as I pull him into the snow bank and speed off.

It's the most fun I've had in ages.

•••

Oriole and I lay side by side in our pressed snow angels in front of the lake. In daylight, the water take in a whole new personality. Softer, not dark and dangerous, but smooth and iridescent.

I turn my head to look at him. His eyes meet mine.

_We run around in the sand, my feet tripping over each other as the hot grains stuck to my skin. He was younger, maybe fourteen and I just turned twelve. He was tan-probably as tan as I've ever seen him, and his hair was shaggy. We laughed as he tackled me to the ground._

_"Sand in my eyes! Sand in my eyes!" I screeched, face-down in the sand as he held me down with his strong hands._

_He laughed maniacally, "Ha ha ha," he said in his low villain voice, "Ill never release you, until you tell me were you hid the forbidden treasure!"_

_The 'Forbidden Treasure' was a smallish back of candies my father had brought back from the store. I had stowed them away at the house in fear that his boy-like urges would devour them all._

_"Never!" I screamed, pushing loose._

_"Whoa," he fell back into the sand, fake hurt by my incredible super hero strength. "No! You can't defeat me!"_

_I ran to the waves, wading in deep to my hips and screaming in horror as he chased me. Lunging forward, he picked me up by my skinny hips, and swung me around on his shoulder, kicking and screaming._

_He walked deeper in and threw me as far as he could, flipping me flailing into the cold ocean._

_I bobbed up laughing, cursing his growth spurt, and grabbed his legs, making him fall._

_In the end, we sat on the warm sand, making a sand-drip castle and watching the sun set behind the horizon, orange flames snaking across the pink sky..._

I remember that day, the way his eyes looked so happy at me. I see it now.

We sit up and somehow start talking about everything. Life, future, past. Our past together, our silly fights.

"Remember that one time," he laughed, "when you were nine and I was around eleven, I think. And we were at you're house and you yelled at me for eating the last cupcake your dad made for your sleepover," I remembered. I was so young and sensitive and I was saving it, actually for him, but I wanted to give it to him myself, as a very important offering, as it was_ the last_ cupcake.

I smiled. "Yeah. You got so confused you hit your head on the wall as you walked out, and I laughed I guess, because you got so mad."

He sighs. "Ah, the old days. We didn't speak for a week, right?"

I raised my eyebrows looking at the sky. "Yeah. I was so upset I think I cried and told my mom you basically wanted me to die. I was so dramatic," I chuckle.

"Eh, we all were."

He gets up with a groan, and offers me his hand. We walk past the spot where Caleb kissed me last night, and I sort of fast-shuffle past it, avoiding any confusing memories.

It was weird. I was getting involved with two people. Caleb and Oriole... I was becoming that pathetic excuse of a girl who got herself involved in stupid things like the love triangles some of the girls read about in school. My mother was almost like that, I guess. But it wasn't really her fault. It was literally life and death.

But me on the other hand, it was almost like I was asking for it. I could avoid it but...I don't know what's happening. I wish I could just rewind and make things simpler.

"Do you remember how we made up that day? When we were kids?" Oriole says, out of the blue, about the cupcake story.

I think back. "I can't really remember anything...only, something about a drawing? A sand castle maybe?"

He smiles to himself and shakes his head. "No, something like that though. I went to go check on you a while later at night, and you were on the Lookout," he remembers.

Oriole and I had a secret hideout on the roof of his house called "The Lookout Point". It was a landing, almost flat, right above the alcove outside the guest bedrooms window. We climbed up there some nights to talk or just sit there when one of us was having a bad day, or to play adventurous games during the day.

I nod. "Yeah I remember, I was playing with my stuffed bunny..."

He laughs. "Yeah, you loved that forsaken thing. Anyways, I remember calling you down and bringing you to the beach. It was a really bright night," like last night, "and I led you by the hand," like last night, "and told you I loved you as my bestest friend in the world," kinda like last night, I continue to think dimly. But I force myself to listen to him.

"So I had made this huge sand castle, and around it was a stick picture of you and me, reading "Friends Forever And Ever" I think," he smiles.

I smile warmly, almost sadly. I remembered perfectly now.

I looked up at his face and the waves crashed behind us, the high tide lapping our bare feet.

The beach was only literally a few steps back from his house, since it was basically his backyard. The castle was amazing, and the caption had a little smiley face beside it.

I smiled big and wrapped my small arms around him, dropping my bunny, ignoring the 'Coodie Code' and said "I love you forever, Orio." in my little girl voice.

He said, "Me too, Lavie."

**O_o WOOOO LAVI AND ORIE, SITTIN' IN A TREE...C-U-T-I-E-S X2! (sorry I can't really rhyme haha)**


	5. Chapter 5

**__****Okay ...this chapter is sad. Kinda fluff, but more friendship and comfort. It's gettin' there, folks, rally down now. It's just so sad:( Ok ok, *shakes head* snap outta it.**

**So yeah, don't own TGH blah blah, OH BUT-I DO, however, own this plot and Lavianna and Caleb and my beloved Oriole. And in advance; I'm super sorry about the short chapter, I just thought it was a good place to end. Sorry but enjoy and REVIEW LIKE THERE'S NO FREAKING TOMORROW PEEPS:) **

**Stay cool**

**~Jenna**

FIVE

The next few days are pure happiness. Even Annie lightens up with a smile on her face round the clock.

My mother later tells me that it's because she's so happy to see Oriole so happy. She says that back home, things have been getting bad. Annie's getting worse, and Oriole has almost abandoned his goal to go to university in Four for politics. He stays home, all the time. Has lost contact with most his friends, and deals with his mothers breakdowns. She's his full time job.

I didn't realize how bad it was.

When I look at him I try to see what goes on in his ahead, I can't seem to make sense of it.

Anyways, despite my trouble thoughts and sadness about Annie, I'm happy to have them in our lives once more. We sit around the fire, sipping hot chocolate and telling exciting or funny stories. We eat meals together, go on walks, talk, sleep in. It consists of everything that makes me happy. My family, Oriole and Annie. Everything except one key piece.

I missed Caleb.

•••

On the fourth night, three days before the Odairs are scheduled to leave, I find myself in the empty attic. It's a fairly good sized room, the walls slanting upwards to meet each other at the peak of the roof. It's pure wood, no paint, carpeting or tiles. There's a huge window that takes up one of the two triangular walls facing the forest. Through it, the soft moonlight flows through the cold glass. It's a clear night, no stars. Just the moon and some clouds and me.

The space is scattered with a few unopened boxes, tools, and two chairs that look too old to even be standing. Everything is covered in a thick layer of white dust, except for the small corner of the room with the window and ladder that leads to my room. I usually sit here when I want to think. Or just want to get away from it all. The world.

I sit there, cross legged leaning on a box, diagonal to the window. I hold my flimsy, old ,dusty lavender-coloured friend, Bunny. Playing with his ears, I think about that night between me and Caleb. The kiss. I think about losing him. I think about Annie's sickness. Losing her. I think about my mother, still waking me due to her screaming in the dead of the night. I think of my father, doomed to have a break down if stressed too much. My little brother, Caspian, who isn't so little anymore. Haymitch, Jo, Finnicks spirit that seems to live in everything Oriole does.

Oriole. I think of him the most. What's happening. It seems to be the same. I still love him. We're still best friends. He's changed though. We all have, but him, I'm afraid for the worse. His change is hurting him. It's wrecking the gentle soul inside him. He can't deal with all this by himself at eighteen. I want to help him. How?

I can't. But I wish I could just...

As if on cue, I hear creaking on my ladder beneath the floor. My face falls, I don't want my mother or anyone up here with me as I try to clear my jumbled jar of thoughts. I look away out the window and mumble, "Go away."

The footsteps come closer and I hear shuffling beside me.

"But this is our hideout."

I smile to myself but still don't turn around.

"Well if you insist. Okay. You can stay."

I hear him shuffle as he plunks down next to me. We just sit there for a bit, staring out the window.

"It's beautiful."

His whisper sends something through me. I turn my head around to see his glassed-over green eyes. I look deep into them, and he only stares back. I get lost in that sea of green and blue and gold, and I can't seem to get out. I finally snap out of it, looking down at my bunny and stretching my legs straight out in front of me.

"Yeah," I say softly, glancing at the full moon.

I hear him take a deep, shaky breath.

And I take a chance.

"What's happening to your mother, Or."

It wasn't a question, I don't think. It kind of sounded like it, in the way a small child would ask something they couldn't understand. But I knew. And I understood perfectly.

And so did he.

The sharp intake of breath I heard made me regret the words. But not enough to take them back.

I wanted to know. I needed to know for sure.

"She," his voice cracks. He clears it. "Shes...sick." He starts, but never finishes.

I nod microscopically.

I know. He knows. He probably knows that I know.

He never looks at me. Only the line of cracks along the splintered boards under us. Branching out in different directions, closing and gaping in different places. Darkening and fading, like the life was fading out of his mothers body.

I reached over and hold his fingers, and pull them to my knee. My slender ones running over his larger, strong ones.

"Are you scared?"

My voice is so soft it surprises me how gentle it sounds.

I don't dare to look up at him, only his fingers. His beautiful hands. I thread my fingers around his, spacing in and out, tracing the veins and lines on the back of his hand with my finger. I turn it, shaky and tinted white, and follow the lines of his palm with my nail. Sliding over his wrist, pressing slightly on his pulse, steady and strong.

Unfortunately, it might be a little bit stronger than his actual being right now.

I finally look up, and his head is down, staring at our fingers. His ashy-blond hair falls into his eyes. I bend my head, making him look at me.

His eyes are terrified. Blurry and confused.

He nods ever so lightly.

"Yeah."

** I have no words. None. **

***sniff***


	6. Chapter 6

**Hi again, dearies:) **

**okay so this chapter is pure sadness. It reveals more about Orioles past, his mother, lavs relationship, etc. I'm sorry it's kinda short, but it took my like twenty minutes and I had to. So this may make you shed a few:'( **

**I don't own the great hunger games but I do own this wonderful story**

**~Jenna**

SIX

I look over at him. This boy I've known my entire life. Out of fifteen years, I've only seen him break once. On his fathers death anniversary.

_I just turned twelve, and he was fourteen. We were at his house, playing on the beach early in the morning. Splashing around as the white-tipped waves crashed along the sandy shoreline. My damp, dark hair whipped in the wind as we ran around, laughing. It was just like any other day there in Four._

_Until we went in for breakfast._

_No one had called us in, like they usually did, so we decided to go in ourselves. It was still early, around eight or nine. The clouds were still a bit orange but soared across the sky, traveling over our heads._

_As we walked up the back porch, he stopped. Holding out his arm to still me, he leaned forward, under the kitchen window. All the windows were opened in the summer._

_Inside we heard muffled sobbing. Not someone crying normally out of grief or pain, but a hysterical wailing. Surely it wasn't my mother, but Oriole's. Even at a young age, despite her normality, I knew that Annie wasn't quite whole. My parents had told me her brain was a little sick, because of the games, yeah, but she was also heartsick because the only one who really could be in her recluse world was Finnick. But he was dead._

_I stare at Oriole as we listen. His face distant-he's somewhere else. I hear my mother inside with Annie, her soft voice trying to overcome the horrible wails of pain._

I heard Annie choke out something that sounded like, "I can't do it without him," I knew she meant Finnick.

_My mothers voice cooed, "You're not alone," the crying calmed a bit as she listened. "You have Or."_

_This made Annie wail even louder, like a roaring thunder breaking through the sky._

_Orioles body tensed so hard when she began to speak, I thought he might snap in two._

_"B-but he makes it w-worse," she cries out. You can hear my mother try to object, but Annie's voice breaks through. "He's so m-much like him! I try b-but I c-cant!"_

_She sobs for a bit and then calms down, her hiccupping slowing. "I try to love him, I do. I l-love Oriole."_

_Orioles face is blank. Even at fourteen had the best poker face id ever witnessed._

_But I didn't blame him._

_I wasn't prepared for what came next._

_"Sometimes," she choked. "Some-sometimes he reminds me so much of him..."_

_She continues as if she had never been crying. It's eerily clear and still. It rings out._

_"And I hate him for it."_

_Oriole shot up straight like a bolt of lightning, and swiftly pushed past me, making me stumble on the wooden porch, as he flew down the steps and to the ocean. He waded out into the crashing blue waves till he was at his hips, but the waves still floated past his chest at times._

_I stumble down the steps to the sand. But stopped before the shoreline, the water lapping at my feet. I looked out at his tall, slender body against the harsh water. His hair flew in the wind._

_And suddenly, after what seemed to be hours, he stopped staring at the horizon and just screamed. His hands clamped on his head as he tried to rip out his hair. I flinched at the harsh way he screamed, a deeper yell. It cracked a few times, but he kept screaming. He shouted a few words that I didn't hear against the waves. His body heaved in exhaustion. But he kept shouting. I stood and watched, heard as his screams became a part of the crashing waves, roaring against the windy morning. Finally, he stopped. Or shook in the water, his hands sliding down to his stomach._

_I stepped forward, compelled my some force in my heart. An instinct to protect him. I pushed against the waves and soon found myself behind him. He was more broken than I had imagined. His golden shoulders hunched forwards, his hair thrown askew from his tearing, his face a contorted mess of grief and silent tears. His chest, normally strong and dependable, was deflated completely. I wrapped my fingers with his and turned him. He doesn't hesitate. He just helps me drag him to shore._

_When we reach the sand, I help him sit on the sand, feet away from the water. I sit beside him and wipe his face with my hands. I run my fingers through his hair, straightening it out. He doesn't object. He's too hurt._

_I scoot closer to him and touch his cheek. Looking into his eyes, I finally see the real Oriole, broken and scared and shattered._

_His eyes meet mine, and he stares for a second before breaking down and crying. I turn him and wrap my arms around his neck, pulling his neck to the space between mine and my shoulder. His tears dampen my hair and skin, but I only pull him closer. He slide his arms around my waist._

_And I was there. I really knew. I didn't need to understand the pain. I didn't need to understand what was happening._

I just needed to be there when he needed me.

And now, presently, I'm afraid I will have to be that girl again.

**okay, I think I hate myself for putting young Or through that. Was it too intense? Eh. Oh well. Guess itll be worse later :o **

**so Ok, I truly am heartless. Until text time!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Okay this is gonna be a shorter one. But don't fret, my dears. This is where my story starts to get intensely heart-wrenching. *wipes eyes roughly* I hate myself for doing this to my dear babies. **

**alrightly well yeah. Don't worry about the shortness, I literally will be posting a chapter right after I post this. It's already written:) but super sad. **

**Warning: tears up ahead. Good luck. **

**I don't own the beautifully crafted THG, but I do own my story and characters ;) **

**now on with the water works:(**

SEVEN

The next morning I drag myself out of bed. Light streams from the window, plastering an orange haze on the wall. I vaguely remember last night, we both cried, and we both were comforted. I missed that. I never had it with Caleb.

When I slowly creep out of my groggy state, I notice an unmistakable beeping downstairs. Confused, I pull on an oversized t-shirt and pad to my door. Glancing at my clock tells me it's eight fifteen. I open my door a crack, and the sudden busyness downstairs startles me.

I can see over the upstairs banister now that my door is open. No one pays attention to me.

A few machines and lugged through our doorway and people with white uniforms file into the open living room. My heart skips a beat.

Those are Capitol doctors.

•••

Under the haze of morphing, Annie sleeps in her hospital bed with a somewhat painful and content look on her pale face. Oriole left to talk to some Capitol Head Doctor, and the rest of my family, including Cale, sit around in the living room where she is placed.

Plans are made to transfer Annie to the Capitol, but Or fights. He says that the hospital in Four is almost as good and it's a shorter distance.

But we all know he just wants to be home with his mother when...when the unthinkable happens.

I stare at Annie's eyelids. Behind them lay beautiful sea-green eyes that light up when she smiles. I miss her. Even though she's on and off, I had a very close relation ship with her. She was like my second mother, my moms sister maybe.

I remember once when I was ten, I "ran away" to Orioles house, my parents handing me the tickets solemnly, trying to hold back grins. They knew perfectly well how it was going to play out. Annie had a room set up for me, but I just ended up sleeping in Or's room anyway.

That weekend I was really upset. I was crying, thinking I would never go home again. I can't really remember why I left. Annie held me by the fireplace and told me stories and talked to me about parents and children.

"Being a mum is very difficult," she said in her sweet voice, stroking my hair. Or was somewhere in town with his friends. "We want to protect our kids from every little harm we had to go through, we want to take all the bad away."

I nodded. I knew my mother had a rough past; it was evident. I knew she wanted only the best for me and Caspian. I thought of the times she would walk us to school when I was younger, her hands in each of ours, gripping tightly, glaring at anything of possible danger as if to warn the goat mans little animals that if they ever DARE to go near her babies, so help her she will skin them so fast they won't have time to say 'Ba-a-ahh'

Okay a little of topic. I forced myself to concentrate on Annie's long fingers threading through my hair, her soft voice a him in my ears, as my eyelids drooped.

Those two days had been the first really big time I realized how much I loved Annie as a second mother.

Tears well up in my eyes and my vision of the bland room blurs. My mother sits with my dad, crying, one of her arms stretched out to never let go of Annie's cold hand.

Or steps in for a minute and states in an emotionless voice that we will leave for Four in an hour. It's ten o'clock at night.

We all go to grab a few essentials and change. I dress in the same black sweater I wore the day they arrived, and my mothers jacket and a scarf; I know that Four can be particularly cold in the winter.

I grab a few items, my clothes, toiletries, and my bunny and stuff it in my duffel bag.

I lean over my bed and snatch open the drawer, and pick up a small picture of Oriole, Annie, Caspian and I sitting in the sand, laughing. It was taken four years ago. We were so happy. I tuck the picture into my pocket and leave my hair down.

At the bottom of the stairs, they're transporting Annie into a hovercraft far above. Oriole walks with them and tries to go with them, but they refuse. He shouts for a bit, threatening authority, when I walk to him and reach for his cold arm. He's only in a t-shirt and sweats.

I whisper in his ear and pull him back to the house to get his shoes and a jacket. He stares as his sick, dying mother, lifted into the hovercraft as she suddenly disappears. We're left standing in an incomplete silence as the unforgiving snow begins to fall.

I begin to wonder if what I promised him was a mistake.

I whispered, "Don't worry, Or, I promise we'll see her soon, better as ever. She's not going anywhere."

I lied.


	8. Chapter 8

**I don't even know if I can keep writing this :( but *sigh* I have to. More sadness to come. Don't own TGH, blah blah don't sue me. **

**Kay I apologize in advance for ruining mascara or manly egos:(**

EIGHT

The train ride to Four was only two hours. But it was two hours of pure, agonizing torture. The snow flitted past the zooming windows and I had to stop looking out them, flying by so fast I thought maybe we were defying time. I was going to throw up.

Oriole disappeared somewhere, but I didn't follow. He needed to be alone, I guess. Something I totally didn't understand. I believe that when someone is in pain and it's possible to help them, you should. But I guess sometimes people need to do some healing on they're own.

Or better yet, maybe they need to let themselves get scarred. I don't know. I'm so confused.

Caleb wanted to come with us but he had to stay behind with his family. He was going to be there in a few days.

Maybe a few days too late.

I go slide into a bathroom in the living room car, standing over the sink, gripping the sides as fat tears splatter from my cheeks onto the cold, purplish tile. I push onto the cold marble, feeling the sharp edges push against my sweaty palms.

My thoughts are turning morbid. Disturbing. Depressing. In these past hours, I have changed. My usual, caring or sensitive self is tucked away in a corner of my brain to protect it. I replace myself with a more protective shell, kind of deflecting feelings into numbness.

It's for the best.

I will be strong.

I will fight.

For them.

For her.

For him.

•••

Four has changed drastically. Well, to me. It was always a happy occasion when we visited this district, but not today. Today, we ready ourselves for a death.

Annie is already in the Intensive Care Unit, machines beeping, flashes of lines telling us stats that we don't understand. Scary dark liquids, coming to or from her, I can't tell, are in plastic tubes connecting her chest and wrists. The room smells sterile, like the inside of a plastic glove and sickness. The walls are crudely lit with ugly fluorescent bulbs. It hurts my eyes.

The smell is twisting my stomach. The beeping is pounding on my brain. The tangle of tubes and wires that hides Annie's small body confuses my eyes. The feeling of Orioles shaking form wrapped in my arms, feels weird and foreign. Like I'm not actually there and I'm watching from the dark window that looks out to the crashing, freezing waves.

I imagine diving into the ruthless waves. Pushing against the strong current and my body pinches in the freezing water. I sink under and swim swiftly and strongly alongside the current. The darkness stretches all around me. Looking up at the chaos above is strange, considering how calm it seems to be underwater.

I don't need air, I can swim freely with full lungs. The shadows grow as I dive deeper, deeper into oblivion. I'm not cold anymore, just a numb sort of warm and tingly. Like that confusion your skin feels when you stick your hand in the running water that's either two cold it feels hot or so steaming it feels cold.

I'm a water creature, soaring through the waves, away from the shore, away from any troubles, any confusion, any love or hate or death...

Suddenly a sharp piercing beeping rips at my ears, snapping me from my gaze at the window to Annie lying in her bed, her eyebrows knitted together. She stirs. Beside me, her son bolt up and grabs her hands, a mess of tubes and wires.

The beeping comes faster.

My eyes burn.

White figures stream in, not even bothering to usher us out of the room as they push buttons, scribble down notes, examine, feel, test. I am left trapped in the corner of the room.

I lose my family. I'm in a sea. I'm lost in the sea of these creatures trying to save a part of my family. In the crowd of white and frantic orders and beeping, I see a flash of soft brown hair, matted against the bed, and then it suddenly disappears being machines.

I eventually find my way out into the quiet hallway.

**I can't even...**


	9. Chapter 9

**Sorry it's been a while..**

**well, here we go. **

***sigh***

**~Jenna**

NINE

I had a dream once, maybe ten months ago; not quite a year. I was floating in a small row boat, in the middle of the ocean. It was a beautiful day, the sky was a deeper blue than the water splashing softly under me. Big fluffy clouds swayed in the breeze. The water reflected the orange sunlight and it glowed. I was sitting on a bench, without paddles. I couldn't move anywhere- but I didn't really want to. It was calm and peaceful and there was no other place Id rather be.

I kept thinking about waves, and how water was never still. It was always moving on, going someplace else. It was always running, flowing, splashing, crashing, streaming to somewhere new.

I wondered what it was like; never staying in one place. Exploring, weaving into new experiences.

Suddenly, in the distance, a darkness started to devour the sky. It was like a wall of black, slowly inching it's way to me, eating the blue sky and white waves. It was like a storm, but not.

I frantically tried to paddle with my hands, but nothing happened. So I got up and jumped into the waves. I dove deeper and deeper, swam for my life. Then the darkness caught up, and swallowed me into the alternate universe that was darkness. The clear soft water morphed into jet-black thick ink. It pulled me deeper and suddenly I couldn't breathe. I flailed and kicked, screamed but no voice came. The water seeped through my nostrils and mouth, filling my lungs, my ears, my heart. I couldn't feel. I couldn't think.

I feel like I am in that dream.

I couldn't breathe, think, feel, as Oriole and my parents went in to see Annie.

The doctors told us only a few hours. The cancer had spread to her heart.

Caspian and I sit outside the hospital. You could see a part of the beach from here. The early sun starts spread across the sky, eliminating the moon for the day. The stars slowly start to disappear until they weren't there anymore.

"Annie's dying, isn't she?"

Caspian seemed so young sometimes, even though he is turning fourteen in a few weeks, he was still my little baby brother.

I nod. "Yeah."

"Are you sad?"

"Of course."

He waits. "Are you scared?"

I hesitate for a moment.

"For Oriole," I reply.

He sighs and nods.

"But not for yourself," he adds after a while.

I shake my head.

"Me too. I'm not really upset she's leaving, I love her, but she's been suffering for a long time, taking care of Oriole by herself after Finnick died. I mean I wish she was still going to live, but not this way. I'm glad she's going to go someplace else." Caspian hesitates. "I don't really know where, maybe just to death, but I...I don't know how to explain it."

I take his hand. "I get it."

We smiled at each other. We sit there for what seems to be hours. Until the doors behind us slide open.

Oriole walks out swiftly, and speeds past us.

And I know.


	10. Chapter 10

**I'm just really sorry :( ** **It really sucks when I have to create misery. **

**This just keeps gettin harder and harder. Prepare to shed tears like the great Niagra**

**~Jenna**

TEN

Or stands at the waves, looking out to the rising sun. I sit a few yards behind him. He's been standing there for at least half an hour now.

The wind whips his hair around, his arms limp at his sides. His white t-shirt flies around his shoulders. The waves lap at his ankles, but he doesn't move, even though he still has his shoes on. He doesn't move.

The only thing that reminds me he's not a statue is his hands. His fingers clench, unclench, fumble, twitch, wrap around each other.

I know my parents are watching from the house window. Watching me watch Oriole who watches the sun rise. The sun, watching all of us humans on the ground. We make our stupid mistakes and take things for granted and either work too hard or not hard enough. We laugh and shout and cry and smile and cough and speak and whisper and breathe. But we are just humans. We're only one species in thousands, not even realizing our issues or actions have consequences. I wonder if something watches us, laughing at our mistakes, frowns at our tragedies.

Ill never know.

Watching my best friend like this is painful. He just stands there. He watches the sun lift into the sky, the waves crashing into the horizon until we can't make out what's farther anymore.

I don't know if he cries. I can't see it. I wish I knew so I could help him. But I don't dare go near him. I know he needs to be alone. So I just sit here, with him but not.

I look at the sand, the small grains. Millions, billions, trillions, zillions, in a bucketful. They coat the whole beach, the whole floor of the ocean.

Infinite.

I look back up at Orioles back. His head has moved. He looks down, and his shoulders shake slightly. His hands are fists, white knuckles, iron hard fingers.

I'm beside him before I know it. My shoes soak in the three inch deep water but I don't care. I look at him sideways. His face is contorted in pain and he shakes his head. His cheeks are soaked. I reach up and turn his face to me, wiping his tears with my hands. He looks at me with such sad eyes, it breaks my heart. I look at him sadly.

"I tried," he whispers hoarsely.

I nod. "I know."

He shakes his head. "She didn't make it."

"I know."

He looks out to the water. "I miss her."

I nod, he looks at me. "I know that you love her."

He takes a shaky breath and stares at me, I thread my fingers through his hair.

"Why?" He asks after a while.

"I don't know."

•••

We let him sit on the beach all day. When I went to go check up on him, I heard him talking. He was staring at the water. I know he was talking to Annie.

Inside the house, my mother sits in her room and my father paints. Caspian is reading his book in the living room. I sit at the piano and play some songs that Annie taught me on the old keyboards.

The white keys have been stained slightly brown with age, the surface touched so many times, it's smooth and glassy. I like the way the keys press down without any effort.

My fingers fly over the keyboards, hitting different patters of blacks, whites, minor chords mixed with majors.

At seven, there's a knock at the door.

I open it against the wind. It's Caleb.

Despite all the confusion, I fly into his arms as soon as I see his solemn expression. He pulls me up by the waist, pressing me right to him. I can't breathe, but I don't care. We stay there, in the doorway for who knows how long. All I know is my friend is here and I need him. I bury my face in his neck, my arms wrapped tightly around his neck. He slowly moves into the warmth of the house, but I don't move. He shuts the door and continues to hold me. Finally, I break from his grasp.

I look into his eyes and shake my head. He knows. Tears threaten to spill for the first time since her death.

He nods sadly and kisses my forehead as he passes into the living room to greet Caspian.

I glance out the kitchen window.

Oriole still sits there, unmoved. Even if he does come inside, I think he'll always be there. His spirit will never move from that spot in the beach. A faded image permanently pressed onto the view if that beach.

He will never be the same.

**Oh gracious. i think I actually cried three times while writing this. First time cause it was so sad, second was because I realized how good a writer I was;) and third...I think I stubbed my toe...**

**R&R :) have any suggestions? Guesses on what's upcoming? Well you better, cause I ain't got no idea. **


	11. Chapter 11

**Sorry I took so long, a lots been going on. So, we exited?! :) Im gonna now be focusing on more Lav&Or fluff;) **

**oh, and I would like to thank some people, ME442, Belixe, Aliyaahhh, and two Guests for reviewing my story and making me feel all tingly and fangirly:) And as for the idea Guest #1 had, yeah, that's a very good idea, and I'm going to stick to my plot, but I will definitely use some of those suggestions! Thank you so much! **

**I don't own THG, but Suzanne Collins probably wishes she owned this story;) **

**Love you strangers! **

**~Jenna**

ELEVEN

The next few days are painfully slow. Plans are made to have Annie cremated and buried by her favourite willow tree on the beach, where she and Finnick first met. Oriole isn't sure if he's going to live in Four or in Two, with his other relatives. He doesn't know if he needs to stay or not.

A part of me always wants him to stay here, in this house. This tall, old, faded blue, two story wooden house on the beach. The place where my childhood was built up, stacked with building blocks, most of which belong to Oriole and this house...this beach. This world.  
I figure, if he's still here, and we still visit, it's like some things can stay the same. Things don't have to change.

But I know it's a foolish thought. I still wish it were true, though.

Our trips to Four, fun and playful and happy, are over. They died along with Annie.

Caleb stays in the living room, sleeping on a couch. He doesn't acknowledge my presence in the way he did, that night at the lake. He hasn't spoken a word about it since Oriole came. I don't know how to take that. I still don't know how I take..well, everything. What happened between us.

But I have a vague feeling that Caleb and I stand at an unspoken agreement to leave it be. Stay friends, love each other as we used to, as siblings or just best friends. All that drama -confusion- has to wait. I am in no position to be making this about myself.

This is about Oriole. And how he doesn't have a family anymore.

But, I guess that isn't fully true. His mother and father were his family, yes, by blood. But we -my mother, father, Caspian and me- were his family. We love him too. We love him as if he were our own. I know that for a fact. We would do anything for him, sacrifice anything for him.

At that, an idea pops into my mind, unexpected. And as soon as it does, I have a hard time believing that none of us thought of it.

I run up the stairs to my mothers guest room. She's sitting on the windowsill, looking at a book. She glances my way.

"What if..." I stammer, unsure whether I should bring this up or not. But I have nothing to lose, I guess. "Mom, what if Oriole, I mean instead of living far away...he could, I mean-"

"You want to know if Oriole can live with us in Twelve." She doesn't skip a beat.

"You already thought of it?" I'm actually quite surprised. My mother isn't exactly one to think ahead. She's more of a spur-of-the-moment kind of person. My dad is the other type.

"No," she says, and next, as if reading my thoughts, "your father did."

"So...?"

She sighs. "So he thought that maybe Or could movie into one of the Victors Houses, and work part-time at his bakery."

I take in a breath. It seemed like a good idea when it was only a thought. But now that it's a possibility...I feel quite nervous.

"Okay, so he could live with us." I smile, halfheartedly. "That's good, right?"

My mother turns and gets up to fix some random objects on her nightstand.

The pause seems to last longer than necessary.

"Lavianna," she sighs. "You need to understand what Oriole is going through. His mother just died, she was the only thing he had-"

"-he has _us_." I interfere.

"-he had that was real." She finishes. "Lav, we aren't his real family. We've never lived with Or like that. Annie-" her voice catches at her name.

She paces around the cramped room like a caged animal. Appropriate enough, I think.

"His mother was his full-time job. He won't know how to fill his time and he won't be the same. You have to understand that. Oriole will never be the same."

I know. It was like how my mother was never the same after my aunt died. How my grandmother never fully recovered, either. How my father was always affected by the high jacking. How Gale and mother's friendship can't be the same.

Things change in life, urging all us in it to move forward with it, or it leaves us behind, stuck in an immobile, frozen state.

I knew Oriole would never be the same. This was a traumatizing experience.

But what helps me think about that, is that I know that he wasn't alone. He didnt have to face his mothers last breaths alone. He didnt have to say goodbye alone. He didnt have to cope alone. We were here, every step of the way, like we always were.

"We are his family now."

It comes out more serious than I intended. My voice drops an octave, but she needs to know I'm serious about this. She needs to know I...she already knows though.

Mothers face softens. She nods-barely- and it's settled.

Oriole will move in with us.

•••

I can't remember when he starts eating and talking. It just starts gradually I guess. One day hes silent and starving, the next he mumbles a hello as he stuffs himself at the breakfast table.

He's slowly coming back to life. He's still not the same, but I don't think I could blame him for that.

It's been three weeks since Annie left us.

Twenty-one days without her here.

He's started speaking more. I usually am the one to sit there with him, in his seat etched into the sands welcoming shoreline. Mostly, we just sit and stare out into the ocean. Sometimes, he tells me stories about him and Annie, ones that I am familiar with, some that I've never heard. It's nice, being part of they're life for a few moments, feeling the joy when he recounts humorous adventures, pain in the sad ones, and love...in all of them.

One night, right after the sunset, we were both sitting in his spot. The sand was warm, and the atmosphere had a pinkish and orange glow to it, the ones that fall over the air after a sunset. The sunny haze was inching into the waves, past the horizon. A light breeze was blowing my long hair around lightly.

Or had been quiet at dinner, more so than usual. He seemed a bit hostile. But no one had bothered him about it. He sat with his legs out in front of him, leaning forward and prodding a seashell on his lap. I sat crossed legged and slightly turned towards him. He was daydreaming. Probably imagining a better world, one where his mother was still here and things weren't complicated. I knew I was.

We were inches apart. I watched him, his face, and then the stars, slowly appearing in the dark blue sky.

Suddenly, he looked up. His eyes shot to mine, and I was startled by how close his face was and his sudden movement. He stared at me for a moment, as if trying to determine whether I was real or not. I nodded slightly just in case.

His eyes softened as he gazed at me, and he almost smiled. Which was a lot of progress if you asked me.

I looked down at his hands. His long, golden fingers. They were laced in the sand, almost blending in with how tan they were.

It seemed like we were there for hours. Just staring.

Hesitantly, I reached over with my right hand and took his left. He didn't take his eyes off my face. I didn't take my eyes off his hands. I pulled his hand over to my lap, and ran my fingers across his warm palm. My hair was falling in front of my eyes, I couldn't see his face, but I could feel his green-blue eyes staring at me.

Every time my fingers touched his skin, it was like a tingling electricity shot up them and through my arms. Cliché, I know, but I couldn't stop. I was fascinated by the sensation. I finally laced my smaller fingers through his, squeezing. He squeezed back.

I heard him take a deep breath, and I forced myself to look up. He had tilted his head forward, and we were kind of huddling into our own world. Heads bent together, staring into each others eyes.

I could never get over his eyes. So beautiful, it was inhuman.

I couldn't keep my thoughts together.

I heard different words course through my mind.

I couldn't keep track of them. I just remember thinking 'confused' and 'Oriole' and 'warm' a lot.

We kept gazing. It was so slow; time. Every second. I was aware of every breath he took. Every blink, his dark eyelashes. I didn't even care what I looked like. Everything was warm. My body, his hand, our eyes, the air between us, the sand, the stars.

I felt like I was falling. Literally. So many people say that, but I never understood until now. My gut felt like it was dropping, my chest was heavy, my fingers stretching as he leaned towards me. He bent down, because of how tall he was. I took a breath.

He was closer, our hands tightened.

Suddenly, as if a strange déjà-vue, I saw the Caleb, looking exactly like Oriole was, leaning towards me.

I took a sharp breath and snapped my head up. I shook us out of the trance we were locked in. He looked at me, then our hands, and then the very, very short distance between us.

Had I started him to go back scurrying into his secluded hideout? Did I scare him away? I was so worried I had ruined it...

He leaned back a bit, but not before taking hold of my hand in both of his, one already laced with mine, and brought them up to his lips. He closed his eyes and breathed in as he pressed his lips against my thumb. I closed my eyes shortly.

This night was so much like the other one, back in twelve...

But I didn't want to think about it. I didn't know what to think about it. All I knew that this, with Oriole, here, felt right. A feeling of utter understanding. I didn't feel it with Caleb.

_I feel it with Oriole. _

He puts my hand back on my lap and smiles at me. I smile back.

We don't say another word the whole night.

**Somethings going on! Keep in mind, those of you Caleb-die-hards, this fanfic is about Lav and Or, but you will get a lot of drama-rama;) and unexpected heart-wrenching events! Stay tuned! **

**...man, I'm good. **


	12. Authors Note (music)

**Hey lovelies!**

**So, being the amazingly wonderful writer I am, and how extremely generous I can be, I have made up a sort of playlist for We Learned To Be Okay:)**

**Sorry to dissapoint you with the AN, but here;) This is just stuff I find will go well with the story. A lot of it you may not recognize (I hang out with the hipsters) but I hope you like it!**

**•Promise- Ben Howard  
•Only Love- Ben Howard  
•Chasing Cars- Snow Patrol  
•Autumn Leaves- Ed Sheeran  
•Somewhere Only we Know- Keane  
•Before it Breaks- Brandi Carlile  
•This- Ed Sheeran  
•Kiss me- Ed Sheeran  
•17- Youth Lagoon (some of their other songs are good too)  
•Hallelujah- any cover is good:)  
•Give Me Love- Ed Sheeran  
•The Grand Optimist- City & Colour  
•Kiss me- The Fray (SERIOUSLY RECOMMEND THIS ONE!)  
•Heart On Fire- Jonathan Clay  
•Holocene- Bon Iver  
•Soldier On- The Temper Trap  
•Transatlanticism- Death Cab for Cutie  
•You and I Tonight- Faber Drive  
•Your Guardian Angel- Red Jumpsuit Apparatus  
•Everytime- Family of the Year  
•She wants to talk- Family of the Year  
•Flightless bird, American mouth- Iron & Wine**

**So there's more, but that's the best of it:) I know its a lot:P feel free to suggest more songs in reviews! My fave ones are both 'Kiss Me's, This, Your Guardian Angel, and Holocene. A lot of them are good though.**

**Okay I shall update ASAP!  
Stay cool!**

**~Jenna**


	13. Chapter 12

**Okay I'm really sorry about not updating for a while, but in my defence, I've written four more chapters! :D Okay so I'd like to thank Annalee for your reviews:) and for saying I'm a celeb;) thanks, dearie. **

**so how did you guys like my playlist? I hope you liked it:) Please please please suggest more songs in reviews! I beg of you! **

**So you know I love you guys, and I do not own THG, quite evidently. Please enjoy and REVIEW or I might be forced to stall my next update:( I'm kidding. But still, I feel good when you tell end how you guys feel! **

**And now, my lovely darlings, my piece of brilliance, my gift to the universe. **

**~Jenna**

TWELVE

Dying is a strange thing.

I mean, now you're there, the next, you're not. Seeing that is something you feel.

The night Annie died, I had gone in to see her. All the doctors were gone, and most of the machines were silent. My family was outside in the waiting room. We had been instructed to say our goodbyes. I was last, Oriole next after me.

I stepped into the room, my footsteps were extremely loud in the very quiet room. Annie was in her bed, her auburn hair matted and splayed across her pillow. Her eyes were closed.

I wished Oriole was here with me.

"Hey," my voice was hesitant. I cleared it.

Her eyes opened slowly, and she looked at me and smiled. I smiled back and almost started crying. I could feel the painful lump in my throat.

She motioned for me to step forward. I went to the side of her bed and kneeled, resting my chin on the rail. She looked at me and whispered, "I always knew you would grow up to be as beautiful as your mother was."

She lifted her shaky hand and brushed back my hair.

"I always wanted to look like you," I smiled. It was true, she was gorgeous. Her hair was thick and soft, long, falling down to her waist. Her eyes were deep and bright. Her smile was something that could melt butter. Her skin milky and smooth. "You were always so pretty, I remember dressing up in your clothes when I was little, trying to be you."

She laughed, a raspy sound, but it was still Annie.

"You and Or would pretend to be grown ups. You were so cute. You two were inseparable, you know that? You would cry every time you had to leave. Or would sulk in his room and wait for the next time you would visit." Annie's face is happy now, and I can almost forget this is probably out last time talking.

I was a bit shocked to hear that he was that upset. It was true though, even though we fought like brother and sister, whenever I was over there or he was in Twelve, we were attached at the hip.

She paused for a few moments, her chest rising and falling unevenly. She was in her own world again. I just sat there, my knees on the cold, sticky, sterile white floor. Suddenly, she looked at me and grinned. Her eyes were dreamy.

"He loves you, you know."

I couldn't speak. Who, Oriole? No. Confusion rushed over me like a wave.

She nodded. "Always had. Since you two were little. I always knew. A mothers instinct. I would always bug him about it, and he would deny it, but I knew. It was the way he looked at you."

I shook my head, but Annie nodded. "No, Annie, Oriole and I are only friends. I love him like a brother, but I don't think we feel that way about each other."

She smiled as if she expected this reaction. "Sweetie, you can't fool someone like me. I've been in love," her eyes glaze over, remembering Finnick.

I smile sadly. I don't know how she figures that Oriole feels that way about me. He's never done anything that would suggest he feels something for me other than love that siblings share. But then again...she knows him. She's his mother. I couldn't... But I don't know. She couldn't be right about me either. I wouldn't think of Oriole like that. Right?

"Anyways," she continued. "I brought it up because you two have spent long enough hiding it. You're almost sixteen, and he's now eighteen. It's perfect." She beamed.

I nodded, giving in. Who could deny something like that to someone who's so determined about it, and dying? "Okay, Annie. Ill do something about it."

She smiled. I was glad that even in this time, she could be conscious. And that she wasn't acting weird like she did when she had her episodes. Annie was acting normal.

I reached up and held her fragile hand. She looked down and suddenly frowned.

"Sweetie... I'm leaving." She looked up, searching my face for a reaction. I probably looked troubled. But not surprised. She sighed, as if she anticipated my knowing. "I'm sorry I couldn't fight and stay around longer."

I shook my head, but I couldn't bring myself to say anything. If I said anything, my voice would break, and that would be it. I would open like a breaking dam. I would cry and wouldn't be able to stop myself. I had to be strong.

"I need you...I need you to take care of him. I know I haven't been any help to him, but I need someone to take care-"

"I will," I croaked, nodding furiously.

"Okay," she breathed. "You know he needs you." She added, after a few minutes.

I looked down. Her chest was heaving now.

I stood up and leaned down close to her, resting my head on her pillow. She tilted her head and kissed my forehead. I cried a bit. She just pet my hair.

"Annie," I said, after I had done crying. My voice sounded fairly normal. "I promise I will always take care of Oriole and my family and myself, if you promise never to leave, okay?"

I looked into her eyes. She was serious. "I will always be here, Lavianna. I will never leave you guys, okay? I promise."

I nodded. She reached behind her hair and unclipped a delicate necklace, one that I hadn't noticed before. She shakily held it in front of me.

It was dainty and gold, but worn. The colour was sort of brassy. But it was beautiful. The pendant was a small anchor, lacy and defined, it hooked around a small rope that looped around and held a small pearl beside the neck of the anchor. The pearl was small and white, about the size of the end of a pencil. It was so simple and stunning, I almost cried.

"Finnick gave it to me after I returned from the Games. We were sitting in front of a willow tree at the beach, and he told me he wanted to marry me. Instead of an engagement ring, he handed me this.

I want you to have it, because to Finnick, it represented his love to me, anchoring us both down in this difficult world. The pearl is our love, something beautiful in all this hardship. You are the beauty in these ugly times, Lav. You anchor everyone down in this family, even if you don't know it. Your presence is refreshing and everyone loves you so much. And I know you are a gorgeous girl, inside and out. So, here. I will always be with you, in your heart, in the beach, in Oriole, and in this."

I smiled through my tears, and took the necklace. I reached back to put it on, but suddenly another pair of hands took it from behind. I jumped a bit, but relaxed when I saw the golden skin.

Oriole swept my hair back and clasped on the necklace. I turned and looked up at him. His eyes were sad and watery, but he grinned at me. He must of slipped in during Annie's speech and my crying. I guess I was too busy hanging on to every word she uttered to notice anything else.

I turned back to Annie. "I guess I have to go now," my voice was small and quiet.

She smiled and nodded. Annie lifted her arms a bit, and I dove right into them. She lifted off the bed a bit. Her arms pulled me close with surprising strength, and I buried my face in her hair, that still smelled like Annie. Ocean air and a light flowery perfume. I cried hard and told her I loved her.

I finally pulled back. I kissed her forehead.

She reached for Orioles hand and mine, and nodded at us to do the same. I grabbed his hand and he held on like I was a lifeline. We stood there, holding hands with Annie.

"I love you two more than anything in the whole world." She smiled.

I looked at Or, he was staring at his mother, not wanting to miss a thing. I kissed his arm, right under his shoulder. Looking at Annie, I said, "You're the most amazing person I've ever met."

"You two will take care of each other, right?"

Oriole and I looked at each other. I nodded, and he lifted out entwined hands and held it between us.

"Good," she whispered. "I'm so happy."

I turned to her and laughed. I took her in, her laugh lines beside her bright eyes. Her smooth skin, her flowing hair, her perfect nose, defined mouth, dainty chin. Her smile. I loved her and I wanted this image to etch itself into my brain.

She smiled and said, "Goodbye, Lavianna, sweetie. I love you more than the entire ocean can hold."

"And I love you that times every grain of sand on the beach." I smiled and forced myself to turn around. Annie dropped my hand, but i had to sort of tug to let go of Oriole.

Every step I took, I was on auto pilot. My legs felt like lead, every atom in my body screaming at me to turn back. But I couldn't. I knew that had to be the last time.

I walked out the door, breathing in, out. In, out, in,out, in.

I glanced back, through the glass door, and saw Oriole, lying beside his mother, her cradling him sideways like he was an overgrown child, as he cried into her hair.

I used every grain of strength I had left to turn away.

I never spoke to Annie again.

**Yeah, that was sad. *Wipes tear from eye* **

**_Gosh_****. **


	14. Chapter 13

**Bada-bing-bada-boom. A new chapter, all for you. Guys I swear PLEASE REVIEW MORE:D No reviews makes me write slower, I swear! **

**So the last chapter was really sad. A break from all the fluff I guess. BUT NOT TO FRET, many more fluffy chapters ahead! More sadness of course, but I gotta give my characters a break sometimes. **

**So I will be I starting school soon, don't send me to the gallows for not updating faster. I shall continue this fic:) **

**REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW I LOVE YOU GUYS REVIEW REVIEW **

**okay so I obviously don't own THG, or I wouldnt be posting on a fanfiction site about said novel. Jeez. **

**Stay cool. **

**~Jenna**

THIRTEEN

The necklace feels like it was made of stone on my neck, pulling my chest down, making me sink into the soft sand as I stand in from of the willow tree that Annie's ashes are buried under.

I stand beside a very stony, very defeated Oriole, and my mother, who is being held by my father.

The ocean air is especially salty this morning. The waves are crashing especially hard on the sharp sand. The sun is too muted behind the too dark clouds that fill the over-stuffed grey sky. Everyone is wearing too much black and crying too hard. My head is being too loud, my eyes are being too blurry. My tongue is too dry. My lungs are being overly deflated.

They dig a hole too deep, and scatter too many of Annie's ashes into the sand. Each member of my family is expected to throw a handful of sand into the hole. We're supposed to help bury Annie.

My mother and father first, then my brother Caspian, looking very young. A few of Annie's relatives. Not many. The sand piles up, only a few inches left. It looks like a mountain, growing from the ground, building up over us, towering.

I force myself to toss the sand that feels like molten lava in my fingers into the grave. My joints feel like rusty screws that refuse to turn.

Oriole is last, but he doesn't move. I look at him, and everyone just looks down, waiting for him to do something. But I'm the only one who continues to look at him. His eyes are empty, and his face is so dark it doesn't even look like him. I step forward, towards him. Again, my feet are sixty pounds too heavy.

I reach forward and hold his right wrist, his hand in a fist, holding the sand. I pull him and help him take the four very painful steps to her grave. I hold his elbow and toss forward lightly. He lets go of the sand, and it scatters on the pile. His face crumples, and I take hold of his arms, stepping back, and hold his middle the rest of the funeral. His chest is rising fast and falling unevenly, like he can't catch his breath. One of his arms are draped over my shoulders, limp. His other just hangs there. I lift my hand and press it to his chest, calming his breathing.

I can feel the others eyes on us, but I just press harder and pull him closer.

Annie's gone. This just makes it all the more official.

Funerals aren't for the dead. They're for the living.

•••

Being in one house with five grieving people isn't easy. It isn't private. And it isn't desirable

I can't understand why Caleb is still here with us. He doesn't have to stay, he didn't really know Annie, he was friendly with her, but never really knew her. It must be strange being a part of something you don't really relate to.

I guess the only reason he's staying is because of my family. But he still doesn't have to.

I've only spoken to him a few times. He's comforted me, but it's not like before. Nothing's like before, but our friendship is something that's changed drastically. We don't spend all our time together, we don't talk, like really talk. But I mean, I can't blame him. Someone just died. And I basically rejected him. And we're living in Orioles house.

Life isn't really at it's utmost best these days.

It ended up raining the next day. Everyone had just gone to their rooms last night, lights out, no one ate, spoke, went out. Except for Oriole, who stayed out on the beach all night. With me.

It was probably eleven thirty by the time I heard him. It was stuffy in my room and I needed air, so opened my window, sliding it up to let the cool ocean breeze in. The moon was full and huge, a beautiful bright light in the dotted sky.

And I heard his voice. He was talking. Considering how close my room was to the beach, I wasn't surprised I could hear him. He was talking again, to his mother. He did that, talked to the waves. His voice wasn't easy to hear, but I could tell he was crying. It sounded raspy and strained. I stood there for a moment, but eventually came to my senses and stepped away from the window.

I lay back down on my bed and listened to the waves. Even though I couldn't hear his words, I could still hear Oriole. It took me about three minutes before I couldn't stand hearing him like that anymore. I grabbed my sweater and crept outside, slipping into the cool night air.

I shuffled across the sandy grass and onto the beach. The tide was high, and Oriole was higher up the beach than usual, but close to the water, and the waves crashed close to his feet. He was lying on his back, his arms over his face. He wasn't talking anymore. His shoulders shook slightly.

I sat down beside him and stretched out in the sand. I reached over and pulled his arms from his face. He turned his head to me, and I could almost make out his face in the muted moonlight. His eyes were big and puffy, his cheeks glistening and wet. He didn't say a word.

I wiped his face with my thumbs, and turned back over to look at the stars. Oriole was still on his side, staring at me. When I glanced over, I realized it wasn't my face he was staring at. He was looking at the necklace. It shone on the front of my sweater. I picked up with light fingers, and observed it. It looked prettier than before.

"Because you're the beauty in this world to us."

I started at his voice, and dropped the pendant. But I didn't move. His voice was close, and I hadn't hear it in a while. It was deeper, more emotional, but it sounded like him.

"That's what she said. She was right," he continued.

"Oriole-"

"It's okay. I'm okay."

He didn't sound okay.

I turned on my side to face him. "No, you're not."

He just smiled sadly.

"Oriole, your mom loves you more than anything in the world."

He sighed. "Loved." He corrected.

"No, loves. Present-tense. She loves you, present tense."

He was quiet. He rolled onto his back again.

After a while, he said, "I love her present-tense too," his voice breaking a lot.

"I know."

"Why did she have to leave?"

I sighed. "Because that's what happens sometimes. People have to leave. Things have to end. But it's never over, Or. Life is never ever over. You still have me, us. We're still here. She's still here. Real love never ever dies. It's never gone."

He smiled at the stars. "I see her in you. All the time, you know that?"

No, I didn't. I could only wish that I could remind someone of Annie Odair.

"Thanks," I grinned.

"You don't have to thank me for telling the truth."

"I guess not."

Oriole looked like we were kids again. His eyes gazed up at the constellations, I could almost see him counting the stars. His lips moved microscopically, stating numbers. He did that to calm his mind. God knows what number he's up to. He used to do it when we were little.

Even though he looked younger, he looked much older. He had aged a thousand years in the past few weeks. His laugh lines seem faded. His smile is something rare. His hands are worn from being clenched. He hasn't shaved in a week. His shoulders hunched. I wondered how long it would take to get the old Oriole back.

"Five thousand, six hundred and fifty two."

I looked at him.

"That's how many stars I've counted since my mom died."

"That's a lot."

He laughed. A sound that made tears prick in the corners of my eyes. He hadn't laughed in ages.

"They are infinite," he points out.

"Like us," I smile. He reached over to hold my hand.

Oriole and I had a concept. We've had it since I was twelve and he was fifteen. That fall, he taught me about infinity, how the stars are infinite, how the universe is infinite, how snowflakes are infinite. Numbers. I had pointed out how love was infinite. Family. He laughed and told me that wasn't how it worked, but that night, when we were up on The Lookout Point staring at the stars, he said, "Im sorry about turning down what you said earlier. About love being infinite. I told my mom, and she said you were right."

I had smiled and hit his arm. "I'm always right."

"Yeah, no," he laughed. "But it makes sense. A family's love is infinite, even when they're gone. It still goes on, I guess. No matter what. You any stop loving someone if you've felt about them that way."

I slid down and lay my head on his lap. Looking  
upside down at his chin, I said, "You're chin is a face, with an upside down mouth." I giggled.

He flicked the side of my head. "Anyways, I was gonna say, even friendship is that same kinda love."

I stopped giggling and looked into his eyes. They were so pretty. "So, were infinite?"

He grinned. "Guess so."

"Cool."

"Yeah."

**"ITS SO FLUFFY IM GONNA DIE"**

***hollered in voice of crazed little girl in 'Despicable Me'***

**ha. See what I did there? ;)**


	15. Chapter 14

**Alrighty so you're welcome for posting two in a row;) **

**In this chapter, you shall see more of my beloved Caspian:3 Also, singing! **

**Imma do the whole modern-day song thing. This song is "Anchor Holds The Sea" by Captains & Captives, I really suggest you listen to it, it's beautiful. Its not how I would imagine their voices, but still. It's my favourite slow song. **

**LISTEN TO THE SONG **

**AND REVIEW**

**oh an yeah I didnt write THG. K. **

**~Jenna**

FOURTEEN

Leaving the house was like ripping a piece of my heart out. It sucked. No one cried, but I think we all wanted to.

My mother packed all our clothes, but left all of Annie's things in her room, untouched. Oriole took some things in her room that he wanted, but left everything else. My mom said to not worry, because we weren't leaving the house for good. It still belonged to Oriole, and we were still coming back here, he would just be living in our district for a while.

I packed my things and met Caleb in the living room. We sit on a couch.

"Cale, I'm really glad you were here. Really." I say.

"Lav, you know that whenever you need me, I'm there." He smiles and reaches over to squeeze my hand. I laugh.

"You're a great friend." At the word 'friend', he kind of winces, but quickly recovers and mumbles a very subtle 'yeah'. I've friend-zoned him. Great.

My father walks in. His face looks very solemn.

"You kids ready? We're leaving in a few."

"Yeah, okay." I say. "Just let me get a few things off the beach."

He nods. I don't actually have anything on the beach, and I'm fairly sure he's aware of that. I just need to say goodbye to it.

Caleb offers to go with me, so I let him. It's not raining as hard as it was a few hours ago. You can hear the pitter-patter of fat raindrops slapping on the old roof, and the there's a slight wind gust, but it's safe to go out to the beach.

I pull on my oversized boots and don't bother to put a coat on. Caleb already has a sweater and shoes.

We trudge past the yard, all wet and depressing. The rain is light, but a shower. I can feel it soaking through my shoulders and jeans, and I know I'll probably regret it later, but I take my boots off as soon as we get to the sand. Caleb starts to object, but thinks better of it and continues without a word.

The wet sand feels good on my feet. The sand isn't smooth like it usually is but it looks pelted in, thousands of little craters where the rain hit. It's a bit mushy, but still hard. I hop on the pads of my feet and make it to the waves. It's a bit rough, but the white-tipped waves look beautiful.

"Forest or beach?" I don't have to ask what Caleb means, but I have to think about my answer.

I take a few moments to respond, in which I squat down and start to built a sand-drip castle by the waterline.

"Forest in the fall and winter, beach in summer and spring."

"Ah, but that's not a full answer. Pick one."

"But I love both," I whine.

He chuckles. "You have to."

I ponder on it for a moment. It's true, I love the beach in warm seasons. And the forest is it's most glorious in the colder seasons, when the wind can blow through trees and you can build fires and see the fiery colours in the fall.

"Okay first," I decide. "tell me which one you think I will choose."

"Beach," he says without pausing. He says it kind of sadly, or disappointing.

And I suddenly realize what he was really asking me, even maybe if he himself didn't think he was.

Caleb was asking me to choose between him and Oriole.

I frowned. "Caleb, you can't make me choose."

He shrugs. "You've always loved the beach. Swimming, like the lake was in the forest too, but it's not the same as the beach I guess."

"Yeah, but what about hunting? I can't do that here," I point out.

He smiles sadly. "You can live without it."

"No," I object. "Hunting is a part of me. The forest is."

"As much as the beach is?"

"I guess so, yeah."

"Well then why are you being so confusing about it, Lavianna? How come you're making seem like you have to pick one?"

I'm not entirely sure were still talking about which district I like better. He never uses my whole name.

"I'm not." I sound like a child.

He sighs. Am I really making it seem like that? Have I made Caleb think that I would choose a Oriole over him?

Would I..?

"Look, Caleb," I straighten up turn to the house. "The train is coming soon, and we have to be ready to go."

He looks down and walks back with me.

I never got to say goodbye to the beach.

•••

I sit in a separate car than everyone else. The train has different compartments for food, bunks, gym, lounge, etcetera, and my family is currently in the lounge, sitting by a fireplace. I choose to go to the back of the train, on them balcony. There's a small seating area that's covered in glass, like a sun room, and the back of the room is opened. The sun is just setting, the orange flames licking the horizon as the dark tree figures devour the pink clouds. The loud wind feels good, and the snow is just starting to fall.

I stand by the rail, when my brother comes to join me.

Caspian stands beside me. I don't say anything, I just stare at the retreating landscape, trees and hilltops and frosty clouds, zooming past us. We must be in Eight by now.

"Are you okay?"

I turn to Caspian. He's turning fourteen in a few weeks, but sometimes, besides his remarkable height, he still looks like my little brother.

I nod and punch his arm playfully. "Yeah."

"Well, you haven't fought with me in a long time," he prods. "and you only ignore me like that when you're really upset."

My eyebrows furrow. "I've been ignoring you?"

Sometimes my brother makes me feel like a terrible person. Not by what he says exactly, it's usually how he acts. He's so sweet, and gentle, like my father. So innocent, and when he calls me out on things, it seems kind of ridiculous, but I feel like I'm being shamed by a schoolteacher. He's just so mature sometimes.

"Well," he stammers. Caspian hates making people worry or feel bad. "I don't know, you've been busy, I don't blame you, Lav."

I wrap my arm around his shoulders (which are almost higher than mine, good gracious) and nuzzle his hair. "Thanks, kid. But don't worry about me, I'm alright."

"That's good." He paused. "So...what's going on with you and the guys?"

I look at him. "Huh?"

"Well, it just seems like you had something going on with Caleb back home," his tone turns into something a bit mocking. Little bugger. "but then I think there's always been something between you and Oriole..."

I squeeze him hard until he lets out a small yelp. I laugh.

"Look, kiddo, nothing's been going on between me and Cale. You know that."

He gets free from my grasp and sits in a chair, looking fairly guilty. Oh no.

"What?" I ask suspiciously. "What do you know?"

I sit beside him and poke his cheek. "Um, nothing."

I just stare at him with my crazy-eye-death-glare, it always cracks him.

"Okay, okay!" He snaps. Yes. "Fine."

I sit back, eyebrows raised. He takes a deep breath.

"So, for a while now...Caleb and I have been talking. And..." He starts out slow. I'm kind of scared as to where this is going. "Well, he told me that..."

"What," my tone is harsher than I intended.

"HetoldmehewasinlovewithyousoIhelpedhimandtoldhimy oumightbetoo."

He lets it out in one big breath, mumbling.

It hits me like a wave of bricks. My brother was going behind my back and gossiping about me, while helping my best friend...what? What did Caleb actually want out of this?

"Wait, what?!"

He sits forward. "Look, Lavie, I thought you did love him. I'm sorry. Super super sorry."

"You knew that he loved me?" I shake my head.

Why hadn't he told me? I would have preferred to know before Caleb dropped the ball. Right? I mean, I would want to know. Wouldn't I?

"Well, yeah. Everyone knew, Lav." His tone is softer.

'Everyone knew'? What? My family? I don't know. I mean, how could Caleb have been so obvious and I not know. Guilt rushes over me. I really have been aloof these last few months.

"Oh," I mumble. "Well, I don't know, Cassie. I don't know how I feel about Cale."

He frowns. He hates it when I call him Cassie. And maybe because I turned Caleb down.

"He kissed me." I blurt out. His eyes go wide.

"Oriole or Caleb?" His words are slow.

"...Caleb," I mutter. "But Oriole tried too." I add.

I need to tell someone. It's been bottled up inside me, and bubbling up to the surface, hurting my throat. I couldn't tell my mom, she'd put and arrow through both they're heads. Maybe. And my father...no.

Caspian and I have always had a pretty close relationship. I tell him things, he tells me things. It's a pretty good brother-sister relationship. But he's not afraid to be honest with me.

"Did you want to kiss them?"

"No." It comes out immediately, but it might not be entirely true. I don't know why I avoided Orioles kiss the other night. Maybe I just didnt want to complicate things. I laugh at myself. Right. As if I could complicate things any more.

He observes me. "Well, it seems like you've gotten yourself into a real mess here, huh?"

I shrug. "I don't know what to do, kid. Caleb says he's in love with me, and Orioles been..." I trail off. "Well, he's in a bad place, and he needs me. What if he's just acting like this because if what happened with his mom?"

"I know that Caleb loves you, that's a no-brainer." He looks at me quickly and smiles guiltily, as if to say, 'no offense'. "And Or...he's upset, and really emotional. I guess, maybe he always did have feelings for you, but I wouldn't get into that now. Maybe wait until he's emotionally stable."

I was taken aback. My brother seemed so mature..and smart. He's only thirteen.

"Thanks, Caspian."

"Yeah," he smiles and pulls my hair.

I look around. I notice he's brought his guitar as it stand beside his chair. I smile. He brings that thing everywhere, ever since Or taught him to play.

"So, how are you about...all of this?"

He hesitates. "I don't know. I really miss Annie. And I miss the guys hanging out with me. And I miss you."

I frown. "It'll go back to normal soon, buddy, I promise."

"Okay." He smiles.

We look out onto the train tracks. We're zooming so fast that it's almost soundless, it's hard to make out the bluer of trees.

"Can you sing?"

I laugh. "Yeah, I think I can."

He laughs too. "No, stupid, can you sing now? Like, with me?"

Caspian and I sing a lot. Together. I have my moms voice, and Caspian gets along, but he sometimes sounds like my father, off key. But he's pretty good. He's gotten better after his voice got lower, and he likes to do duets with me. We've always sung together, since I used to put him to bed with a lullaby, and he eventually joined in.

"Yeah, what do you want to sing?" I get up and stand at the rail again. He follows.

"How about that one mom taught us, when I broke my arm?"

I laugh. Caspian was nine, and he fell out of a tree, and he felt so bad that my mom made him sing songs to feel better.

"Okay," I take a breath. It's been a while since I last sang.

He picks up his guitar and strums a bit, remembering the chords.

"Ready?" I nod.

He starts off slow. He picks and strums. Then we start together, softly, harmonizing together. My voice reaches higher, while he compliments me, his singing lower than I remember.

_Baby's an island  
Trapped by a lonely shore  
Storm or surrender  
I'm the ocean floor_

It's a bit hard at first, but I straighten up and let my voice take over. I hit the high notes as gracefully. To be honest, the sound of Caspians voice harmonizing with mine and the guitar, it makes chills run down my arms.

_And I know you're worried  
But everything comes in waves  
You feel like you're drowning  
I will keep you safe_

_And I'll be there  
Don't be scared  
Sometimes the anchor holds the sea  
You can count on me_

Caspian strums the guitar. It feels good to sing. I feel a lot more like myself now.

_Unpack your suitcase  
Say that you'll stay and fight  
Don't you remember  
All the reasons why?_

Caspian strums harder and I take a breath.

_And I'll be there  
Don't be scared  
Sometimes the anchor holds the sea_

Our voices build, creating a passionate tune. This song's lyrics remind me so much of Oriole.

Caspian and I repeat the bridge of the song, getting louder and fuller with each repeat. I close my eyes.

_You can count on me  
You can count on me  
You can count on me_

I take a few breaths as Caspian continues to strum softly our voices get quieter. He looks at me and smiles.

_And I'll be there  
Don't be scared  
Sometimes the anchor holds the sea  
You can count on me_

Oriole...

**WOOHOO HIGHFIVE FOR AWESOME WRITERS *jumps in air victoriously Pokemon-style* **


	16. Chapter 16

**Okay, I am so so so so sorry, high school sucks and my internets down:( I'm really actually sorry, I've written more chapters. But don't worry, I am continuing this story! I know you guys love me too much. **

**reviews people! It seriously makes me post faster yunno:)**

**K love you don't own THG ill post soon blahblahblah**

**~Jenna**

FIFTEEN

We finish the song. Caspian and I just look at each other. I smile.

I suddenly snap around when I hear someone sigh behind me. Oriole.

Of course.

He stands there, leaning in the doorway, this weird look on his face. Kind of dazed, like he was dreaming of something. He looks into my eyes and smiles. I look down.

Caspian is sort of observing us with a smirk. When I shoot him a look, he's quick to wipe it off his face. I clear my throat.

"Beautiful," he breathes.

I look up at him.

"That was beautiful," he says, a bit louder, to us.

"Thanks," my brother says after a moment of me not saying anything. "Our mom taught it to us when we...uh..."

He trails off because Or is obviously not listening. He's staring at me, and I'm staring at my now quite intriguing feet.

"Anyways," he says louder. "I guess I better go see mom."

I look at him. If he leaves me alone with Oriole I swear-

"I'll just leave you two kids to work things out," he smiles widely. He passes Oriole, patting his back. I notice that he's purposely left his guitar in his chair.

I'm going to kill Caspian.

"So," I smile. "Enjoy your little private concert?" I joke.

He laughs. "Yeah, I really did. It's been a while since I've heard you sing."

I sigh. "Yeah, I can't seem to find the time."

He frowns. "You could always find time to sing," he sits beside me and pokes my nose. "You should always sing. You're gifted."

I laugh. "Or, please. I'm not that amazing. My mother is better."

He shakes his head. "You got her voice. But it's mixed with...I don't know. Something so_ you"_

I guess I can sing pretty well. I enjoy it a lot. I find it a good way to express myself. Orioles right, I shouldn't put off singing anymore.

He laughs and picks up the guitar. He strums for a bit. Finally he clears his throat.

"Look, Lavie," he starts. I pray inside that it isn't about something 'romantic'. "I've been meaning to talk to you about something."

I let out a shaky breath. "Yeah?"

"Yeah. Um." He sets down the guitar and turns to me. "I haven't really been myself lately. I mean, with everything that happened to my mom...and just, life's been difficult."

I stare at him.

"And you've really been the only person there for me. I mean, I've got your family, but you're...Lavianna. You've helped me get out of this bad place, that I didn't want to be in.

I know I've been really difficult. And I'm sorry you had to see me...you had to see me down like that.. I wasn't strong like I was supposed to be. And I let you take the load. I'm sorry. I'm really sorry."

I search his eyes. They're really sad. He had put a lot of the load on me. But who could blame him? His mother just died, and he has no one else. I'm his best friend.

"It's okay...things have just been," I think for a moment. Do I really want to go there? "..confusing. Complicated." Yes.

He nods. "Yeah, I know."

"Oriole," I shake my head and look up. "Listen, I'm sorry if I'm giving you mixed signals..or, I don't know, it's just..."

He sighs. "I know I shouldn't have acted like that, Lav. You don't have to say anything. Those nights on the beach..I'm not saying, I mean, I just think-"

"Caleb told me he was in love with me," I burst, frustratedly.

Oriole stops mid sentence. He stares at me.

I sigh. "And he may have..." I cough. "kissed me."

I thought Oriole had the right to know. I don't want another confession of love or whatever. My two best friends are just...becoming so difficult. They're ruining our friendships. It's not fair. Especially now.

His face is unreadable. Oriole was always the best at a poker face. But his eyes were the giveaway. Right now, they look hurt, angry. Fiery behind the ocean-like reflection.

He shakes his head. "Did you...?"

"Want to kiss him?" I shake my head. "No? I don't know. No."

He nods. "Okay."

After a bit, "Do you love him too?"

I stare. Is it possible to choke on oxygen?

He looks at me deeply. "Do you...feel the same way about him?"

"Oriole, I..." I shake my head and close my eyes.

What's the answer to that? Is there a right one? If I love Caleb, Oriole will stop his approaches towards me, or maybe even stop feeling...whatever he feels. What happens if I say no? I don't even know the answer to the question. Do I love Caleb? I love him like my best friend. But like that?

I open my eyes. They seem glued shut. I refuse to look at Oriole. Anything but Oriole. Anything.

Do. Not. Look. At. Him.

I stare at my feet. I wonder what his face looks like. What does he think my answer is?

What is my answer?

"I don't know." I say quietly.

He sighs.

"I mean," I hurry. "I love him, yeah, as my best friend and like my...I don't know, brother, confidant. But I don't...I don't think I could-"

"Listen," he interrupts. "I've known you your entire life. And I know you very, very well. Do you know what I think?"

I really want to.

"I think," he continues. "that you don't know what you want."

I hold my breath for a moment. He's right. I don't know what I want, what I need, what I hate. I don't know who, for that matter.

"You don't know," he says softly. "how much each of us needs you."

I give up and look up at him.

"You're afraid of hurting us, because you know that someone is going to lose a friendship and be hurt either way. You're going to lose one of us. But you don't know which one you can't live without. You don't know which one you need."

I shake my head disbelievingly.

"That's not...I can't. I can't live without either of you! Why do I have to decide? I don't even know what you're-"

He sighs loudly. "Lavianna, you have to decide, because if you don't," he pauses and contemplates his words. "If you don't, you're going to lose both of us."

•••

I fall onto my bed with a thud. The old quilt, soft on my skin, feels soothing. The fabric is cool and warm at the same time. I inhale the fresh scent it's had for years. Like home.

We arrived home a few hours ago, it was one in the morning. I was so exhausted, but we had to set up a house for Oriole, so we reserved one for him, the one diagonally across from us, one to the right. He would move in tomorrow, he was staying on the couch downstairs till then.

Caleb went straight home, without saying a word. I wonder if he knows what's going on.

Do I even know what's going on?

Yeah, I guess I do.

I've mislead both my best friends and now they both feel something they shouldn't be feeling towards me. And me? I don't even know what I'm doing. I don't know how I'm going to do this. I love them both so much. Honestly? I think Oriole is right. I'm clueless to who I need or who I can't live without I guess. I don't know which one I'm willing to part with.

This is ridiculous.

My head is so loud, I can't sleep. I get up and creak across the floor to the bathroom across my room. I close the door softly and click on the light. It stings my eyes, I have to wait for them to adjust to the orange light.

I take a hot shower, rinsing off the whole months experience. The water feels cleansing as the soap suds slide down my body. I scrub myself down, hoping to wash away all the confusion. I lather my hair and massage my scalp. It's so calming. I didn't realize how much I missed home.

I get out onto the misty tiles and dry myself off. I tiptoe back to my room. It's already ten to four. I've been in the shower almost an hour.

I put on a big shirt, one that Caleb left here about a year ago. I've adopted it. I step into my fluffy sweat pants and socks. I put my wet hair up into a sloppy bun and shuffle downstairs in the dark, in hopes of finding the cereal left unfinished.

I squint in the dark and move over to the kitchen, stubbing my toe. I curse quietly and hold my foot. Limping over to the cupboard, I retrieve my favourite cereal and open the fridge. By the light of the fridge, I pour the milk and spoon the cereal into my mouth. It tastes so good. I love my midnight trips to the kitchen for cereal.

I crunch and swallow while contemplating my situation.

Oriole and Caleb are confusing me. Annie's gone. I need my friends. Caspian is growing up too fast. My parents are being far off. Winter is very depressing. I'm losing myself. Love-triangles suck.

A sound startles me. I snap around and bite my cheek. Oh gosh, I hate that. My cheek feels on fire and I hold my jaw as I squint into the darkness at a tall figure. I inwardly sigh to myself, figuring it's Or. I turn back to the fridge and continue to munch my cereal.

"Couldn't sleep?"

I smile in relief to myself, realizing it's only my dad. I turn back to him and wave.

"You took a shower?" Dad reaches over to the counter light and flicks it on. He nods to my bowl and I retrieve one for him and fill it.

"Mhm," I chew. "Couldn't sleep."

He sighs. "Yeah, me neither."

I hand him the bowl and he gets a spoon, nodding his thanks.

"What's up?"

He shakes his head and takes a huge spoonful or cereal. "Eifh aye noo aye woowoon beh heaw, hm?"

I giggle. He has a problem with eating with his mouth full. Completely full. But I've adapted and learned his language. I shrug.

"Same. I don't know why my mind won't shut up." He looks at me, waiting for me to continue.

I sigh. "Okay, okay. I have a problem."

He swallows and nods. "Being?"

"Well, my problem is that I hate bothering people with a petty problem while we're still grieving. It's stupid."

It's true. Why am I wallowing in my own self pity because my two cute guy-friends love me, while a family member just died? I hate my teenage girl self sometimes.

Dad shakes his head. "Sweetie, if you have a problem, it's okay to worry about it. Yes, we're all going through something, but were still all here for you. All of us." He reaches over and pulls me to his side with his long arm. I turn my head into his shoulder. He smells good, like a fresh shower and dad. I smile. He took a shower too.

"Well," I sigh, after a minute. "I don't know. Girl problems. Or friend problems...boy problems? I don't even-"

Dad inhales deeply. "Uh-oh. I've dreaded this day for a while now. C'mon," he motions toward the island. I look at him quizzically.

He rolls his eyes and hoists me up by my waist, making me squeal. I land on the islands cold countertop with my legs dangling off. I love sitting here. I laugh, remembering. When I want to talk to dad, I sit on the counter and vent. He's like my psychiatrist and this is my comfy chair.

He shushes me and motions to the living room down the hall, and I remember Oriole sitting in the other room. I stop giggling.

"Okay, spill." He reminds me so much of the girl friend I've never had. I almost burst laughing at the eager expression on his face.

I tell him the whole situation, sparing him the gory details of the kissing and handholding and spontaneous declarations of love. But I tell him. About Caleb, Oriole, my confusion, how much I miss both of them.

And it feels good. It feels good to let everything out. It's been building up inside me and I've been so anxious. I like having someone willing to listen without interrupting. Just nodding and continuing to finish his cereal, finally tipping the bowl as he gulps the sugary leftover milk.

I finish with a puff of air and look down, realizing that my cereal has gone soggy. I frown and hand him the bowl, letting him finish it. Dads like my disposal for unfinished food. He'll head almost about anything. He takes the bowl and sets his in the sink quietly.

"So? Diagnosis?" I ask, leaning back onto the cold marble.

He nods seriously and stares at me. "Love triangle."

I sigh. "Uh, dad? I knew that. Thanks."

He chuckles and runs a hand through his messy blonde hair. "Well, I thought it could be a pretty useful piece of information? Yeah?"

"Yeah, no."

"Okay," he contemplates for a moment. "So, what I'm getting from this is that your two best friends say they love you-"

"Ah! Oriole never said he loved me."

He looks at me like I'm an idiot. "He as good as did when he..well he does. He made it obvious and we all know anyways. Plus, choosing? Yeah. He's telling you that you need to pick one to feel about that way. Why? I don't know. But I kind of do."

I nod, leaning my elbows on my knees and setting my chin there, waiting for more details.

Dad sighs. "Well, you know about Gale Hawthorne," at his name, his voice kind of turns hard. As expected. "So he was your mothers best friend. They literally kept each other alive. I think something was going on there. But then, of course, the Hunger Games arrived."

I was hanging onto every word. My parents rarely told us about the Games.

"You know that I've been in love with your mother ever since the first time I laid eyes on her, on the first day of school. Since the first time I heard her beautiful voice," his eyes get dreamy, like they always do when he talks about his past with mom. I smile.

"Yeah, you guys were the Star-crossed Lovers." I laugh. "We all know the story."

He chuckles. "Right. So anyways, when I heard your aunts name called at the Reaping, my whole world went crashing. I knew that your mother would do anything to protect Prim," at her name, his voice goes sad. I've rarely heard about Prim from mom. Dad was the only one who wanted to talk about her. "so I knew that I was going to lose her.

"When she volunteered, I was scared that I wasn't going to be Reaped. I was scared that I would volunteer, or that I wouldn't. But in the end, we went through the Hunger Games together. So we had a lot in common, we had this connection with each other that is rare. Going through an experience like that together, it's a welded bond that no matter who you are, can't be ignored."

"So," I was getting confused. Again. Shocker. "so basically, what you two went through made you guys stronger and created a bond." He nods. "But how does that apply here?"

He swallows the cereal and drops the bowl in the sink and quietly rinses it. "Darling, you just went through something very game changing with Oriole. I saw the way he depended on you. How you depended on him. You two were pillars for each other. You leaned on each other and got yourselves out of the situation. What you two have, that's an unbreakable bond."

What about Caleb?

"As for Caleb," he sighs, reading my mind again. "You are each others best friend. He knows everything about you, you know everything about him. Your bond is as strong as family. I see you two, like brother and sister. You know he would do anything for you, as would Or, but I think it's different with him.

"You connect better with Caleb. More in common. You two are the same. As for Oriole, you two are different...you compliment each other."

It's true, Caleb and I have the same personality, whereas Oriole and I sort of anchor the other.

"So what are you saying?"

"I'm saying that you don't have to choose one of them. I know you love both of them, and maybe you feel something more for one, but you don't have to act upon it if you're not ready. You can love both of them as your friends. There's nothing wrong with that." He rubs my shoulder.

"I do love both of them, but Oriole told me that I have to pick one of them or else I'll lose both of them, and I don't want to lose either of them." I mumble.

Dad sighs. "That's not fair," he pauses. "but he might be partially right. If they feel strong enough, things might get out of hand. But you have to make sure you won't let that happen, okay?"

I nod. "Thanks, daddy."

He kissed the top of my head. "That's why I'm here, little arrow." I smile at his pet name for me. My mothers Big Bow and Im Little Arrow, even though mom hates the name.

I love talking to my father. He's so good with words, his advice always works or makes me feel better. He can understand so many things, and he doesn't judge like my mother does. It's kind of amazing to be Peeta Mellark's daughter.

Dad goes to bed and leaves me in the kitchen. I turn off the light and pad across the hallway to the living room. I look at Oriole, lying on the couch peacefully. He has his hands behind his head and his eyes closed, his chest moving up and down slowly. I grin, he looks so young when he sleeps. He's always looked the same when he slept, since we were little. So innocent.

I really don't want things to change.

**I honestly love Peeta. Kay, till next time! REVIEW MY PEOPLE **


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